autoevolution
 

Kia Uses Telluride to Put Georgian Town on the Map, Runs Over Its Residents

At the 2019 Detroit Auto Show, the Kia Telluride broke cover as the first car the Koreans ever made in the U.S., specifically for the U.S.
The sad-looking West Point high school entrance 1 photo
Photo: Kia via Youtube
The SUV, designed at the Kia Design Center in Irvine California, is named after a town in San Miguel County, Colorado, and will be assembled at the facility Kia operates in West Point, Georgia. That’s the same place from where some of the Sorento or Optima are being produced.

Being a new model, launched just before the Super Bowl, the Telluride had to have its 30 seconds of fame during the Big Game. It actually had closer to two minutes of it, time well spent putting West Point on the map as a town of unremarkable people doing extraordinary things.

Usually, that would be the definition of a hero. But it doesn’t appear to be so this time.

In its Telluride Super Bowl ad, Kia went for a message of empowerment that should have lifted spirits. Instead, it almost summons tears.

The clip is centered on a sad young boy narrating the completely unimpressive lives of a town of complete unknowns, 81 miles away from the closest thing to a world stage, Atlanta.

For more than half the clip, Kia goes out of its way to show the world just how ordinary – or below ordinary – the people of West Point are. How their movie stardom never happened. How their football careers never took off.

How their identity, hopes and dreams all melted away and became products rolling off Kia’s assembly lines.

But what if the Telluride was never to roll off the assembly lines? Would the folks of West Point have faded into nothingness, the world barely aware they were ever here?

We are extremely curious to know how you received this clip, especially if you happen to live in West Point, Georgia.

Did you feel empowered?

If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Daniel Patrascu
Daniel Patrascu profile photo

Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories